"The PPC responds" comments
*headdesk* So, apparently I forgot that the PPC LJ community only allows member comments when I posted this thing. If I had remembered, I would have just posted the response here instead. So, if anyone has any comments but can't reply directly, feel free to do so in this LJ entry.
~Araeph
I could go on and on about this topic, but I'll spare you and everyone else and just state some things that puzzle me particularly:
1. "Mary Sue" is a term that describes a certain type of fanfiction featuring original characters. There might be a certain negative connotation to it, but if anyone is to blame for that, it's the Suethors and their bad fic, and their insisting that the term be avoided is really rather ridiculous. If something's a horse I'll call it a horse, nothing else.
2. Boosette argues that everyone should have the right to do as they please. However, there are evident double standards in this argument. If the Suethor honestly believed that everyone (not just her) should have the right to do whatever they want, she would have to grant us the right to spork Sue fic.
3. Boosette states that she "fights" against misogyny and bullying, but by writing Mary Sues she degrades herself more than a Sue spork could ever do. Judging from the "rant", one might think that the main motivation for people writing Mary Sues is to create a character who is admired, successful, important and respected. If that's the case, they could just as well write self-inserts to achieve their goals. But they don't. They write overly idealized Mary Sues who correspond with what the Suethor thinks is considered perfect by the rest of the world. So if the author thinks that a woman needs to be nearly anorexic, blond, blue or green eyed, tanned, and athletic, then her Sue will be all that so she can be more attractive in the eyes of her love interests. And that's supposed to be not degrading? If they want to do something on the feminist front and fight misogyny and degradation, they should write proper female characters instead of supporting (disrespectful) fashion trends that tell people what they have to look like to get somewhere in this world.
4. Boosette argues that Sue sporks should stop because the Mary Sue has a right to exist. From my experience, however, it's not just the character of a Mary Sue that makes her story a bad one, it's so many other things as well. To give the Suethor the right to write a Mary Sue character is one thing. Another thing entirely is to let her ignore/change (for the worse!) certain parts of canon, including the characterization of the canon characters, butcher spelling and grammar, use anachronisms due to lack of research (because research is sooo overrated, and it's all fiction anyway, so anything goes!), or focuse on the romance part and neglect the action to such an extent that the Sue's alleged achievements seem extremely unbelievable.
As for the "pepper jack cheese", I'm not sure if this is what the dictionary means but I read a fic a while ago in which the author made German characters handle a marshmallow gun, which is (I presume) an American thing and not available in Germany. A bit of research would have solved this in an instant, but so many people are just too lazy to do any research. I hate it.
Sue sporks don't exist for the mere fun of it but because most Suethors are incapable of accepting deserved constructive criticism, or unwilling to accept it, and refusing anything that might help them improve their writing in general.
Reply
Leave a comment